by Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports

by Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports

Now that you've slept on the scores and digested the stats, here's an in-depth look at Week 12 of the NFL season. Take your time reading it, while the NFL decides whether Ndamukong Suh's foot accidentally strayed into Matt Schaub's groin on Thanksgiving or landed there on purpose.

Ten things we learned

1. The Pittsburgh Steelers need Ben Roethlisberger back, if only for his ability to protect the football.

Big Ben had only four interceptions and two lost fumbles in nine games before getting injured. Heck, he even held onto the ball while suffering the shoulder and rib injuries that have kept him out the past two games. In Sunday's loss to the Cleveland Browns, third-string quarterback Charlie Batch threw three interceptions. The Steelers also lost five fumbles. Perhaps when Roethlisberger comes back, we'll all recognize that, in addition to his passing ability, his ball security is huge for a ball-control offense.

With the San Diego Chargers (4-7), Dallas Cowboys (5-6), Cincinnati Bengals (6-5), and Browns (3-8) remaining on the schedule and a playoff spot dangling, the Steelers (6-5) need Roethlisberger back as soon as possible.

Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times by the New York Giants Sunday night, giving Packers' opponents 37 sacks this season. That's already more than the 36 sacks of Rodgers in 15 games last season and the 31 sacks he suffered in Green Bay's Super Bowl season of 2010. At this pace, and with right tackle Bryan Bulaga on injured reserve, Rodgers will be sacked more than his previous career-high of 50 (2009).

"When your quarterback is under pressure like that, it affected me tonight," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "With that, I probably didn't call the best game I've called in my time doing this."

3. Aldon Smith is staying hungry.

San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker Patrick Willis told USA TODAY Sports last week he knew his young teammate would remain insatiable on the edge, and Smith proved it by following up his 5½-sack performance against the Chicago Bears with 1½ sacks Sunday in a victory over the New Orleans Saints. Smith has 16½ sacks on the season, which means he needs a sack per game plus one more to tie Michael Strahan's single-season record of 22½.

Side note: We know the video of tiny Saints running back Darren Sproles flipping Smith made for some blog clicks Sunday, but Smith made the tackle and that's all that matters.

4. The final wild card spot in the NFC is still the Seattle Seahawks' to lose.

Like Seattle, the Minnesota Vikings and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also lost Sunday to fall to 6-5. The Saints seemed destined to jump over them, but they fell to flavor-of-the-month Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers, which leaves the Seahawks in the No. 6 spot. Seattle has to close out games better down the stretch to stay there, though.

Sunday's loss to the Miami Dolphins marked the third time they blew a fourth-quarter lead to lose a game. Add in the should've-been loss to the Packers - the game blown by the replacement refs - and it's four fourth-quarter leads blown for losses.

5. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need a pass rush.

They had only one sack of the Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan on Sunday, and that came on a well-designed and well-timed corner blitz. Ryan was able to sit back in a spacious pocket and deliver an 80-yard bomb for a touchdown to Julio Jones. A little pass rush there could've changed that play and plenty of other ones for the last-ranked pass defense in the league. Bucs defensive end Michael Bennett has seven sacks on the season. Tackle Gerald McCoy has three. No one else on the roster has more than two. Expect Tampa to address their pass rush this offseason.

6. Kickers should be glad November is almost over.

The month has not been kind to them on field-goal attempts. There have been 53 misses in 67 games, an average of .791 misses per game. In September, the average was .435 per game, and it was .571 in October. Obviously, the worsening weather is a factor, but comparisons to previous years in the past decade reveal the misses were way up in Weeks 9-12 this year. Last year, there were 50. Before that, there were three years (2004, '09 and '10) with 46.

Stronger legs are allowing coaches to call for longer attempts, but perhaps they should start reconsidering such decisions after the first two months of the season.

7. The Giants will miss running back Andre Brown, who broke his fibula Sunday.

Brown had scored his eighth touchdown of the season earlier in the game against the Packers. He's had quite the hard-luck career so far, with a torn Achilles' in his rookie season, a tour of the league the next two years (over 20 transactions involving him), and now this injury that cuts short a potential double-digit touchdown season.

"It takes a lot off of the win, to be honest with you," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.

There will be speculation the Giants will sign free agent Joseph Addai, who worked out for them last week, but keep an ear out for another guy who was part of the workout - former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins running back Ryan Torain.

8. The Denver Broncos should be OK with Knowshon Moreno at running back.

OK, so he wasn't the guy who was dodging tacklers with moves like the ones he showed in his first two seasons. But Moreno's 20 carries for 85 yards in Sunday's victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on the field he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament last year were a good start. He told reporters he felt a little "iffy" at first (he touched the ball on the Broncos' first two plays) before settling down. However, Moreno and the Broncos face the stingiest run defense Sunday when they take on the Bucs.

9. Andy Dalton is quietly putting together a nice string of games.

His numbers over the past three weeks: 45-for-89 for 639 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions for a passer rating of 107.8. Granted, he hasn't faced the best of defenses (Giants, Chiefs and Oakland Raiders), but don't forget he threw for 299 yards four weeks ago in a loss to the Broncos, who still haven't allowed a 300-yard passer. Dalton is hot, and the Bengals are now only a tie-breaker behind the Steelers for the final playoff spot in the AFC. Carson Who?

His strong right arm looked particularly live on the Chicago Bears quarterback's touchdown pass to sliding tight end Matt Spaeth in the left side of the end zone, just out of the reach of a Minnesota Vikings defender.

"It gave me a little bitty window," Cutler said.

He threw a few high-risk passes on Sunday, as he's wont to do, and hit most of them. That's what Jason Campbell just can't bring to the Bears offense.